The Northwestern club equestrian team will saddle up this season as they compete in various shows around the midwest.
Co-presidents Jessica Thacher and Kira Dubas head the 30-member team that includes mostly women.
“There are only two or three guys, I don’t really know,” Thacher said. “That’s probably because mostly girls ride horses in high school.”
The experience of the team members vary.
“We’re open to anyone that wants to ride with us,” Thacher said. “You may not be able to show, but you can still take lessons.”
Each equestrian show has five levels. The lowest level entails the walk/trot while the hardest requires competitors to jump over obstacles.
In the walk/trot level, competitors are judged only on what the rider does, such as the positioning of the legs and arms. This makes up for the fact that all horses are different, and competitors usually use whatever horses are available at the stable.
But these horses can’t always be depended on to behave.
“At the lower levels, judges understand if the horse gets out of control since most people at the lower levels are riding for the first time,” Dubas said. “But at the higher levels, judges expect you to handle it if the horse start misbehaving.”
The equestrian team has competed in one show so far this year and is planning on hosting one in January.
In the meantime, the team is heavily involved in community service projects, such as volunteering every Sunday at the Morton Grove stable. The team assists kids with disabilities, who visit the stable to ride the horses.
CAN I KICK IT?: Men’s club soccer team co-president Matt Cozza knows all about beating odds.
The men’s club soccer team finished its season a few weeks ago with a record of 5-5-2, with many of those games played shorthanded.
“We usually play with no subs, and we had injuries,” Cozza said. “We did really well considering the odds against us.”
NU’s most notable moment this year was beating both Iowa and Western Illinois by scores of 1-0 on the same day. In the second game, the team played the entire match with only 10 men on the field due to an injury.
The team nearly made it to the regional playoffs this year with a win against Southern Illinois. But the team fell short, 2-0. The team plans to compete in indoor soccer leagues through the winter.
YOUNG GUNS: The NU women’s club tennis team has trouble growing up.
Club president Diana Bieniewski, a senior, is one of the few upperclassmen on the 24-member squad.
“It isn’t all that time consuming since we only ask the girls to practice two times a week,” Bieniewski said. “I guess as people get order, they just decide that they don’t have time for it.”
NU has already competed in three matches and often travels with the men’s club team.
This past Sunday, the team traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich., to play Michigan. The women beat the Wolverines, 4-3.
